Legacy X
by Drusilla Lance
Summary: AU: The X-Men have children to carry on their legacy.
1. Chapter One

Chapter One:  
  
It was late night on the Canadian highway, but the driver showed no sign of tiring. His hands lay calmly on the wheel, one occasionally lifting up to run his fingers thru his wild, black hair. His cool, blue eyes stealing glances from the woman sleeping in the passenger's seat beside him.  
  
She was beautiful. An "Asian Rose" as the driver, her husband calls her. A tuft of hair falls across her face. Her husband smiles and reaches over to gently brush it away. She senses his movement and awakens, revealing brown eyes that sparkle like gold. She smiles at her beloved, stretches, and then takes his hand.  
  
"Sleep alright, darlin?" he asks.  
  
"For sleeping in a car, I did," she replies.  
  
She yawns and looks behind her. Laying in the back seat, with the middle passenger belt buckled around her waist, was their youngest child. But she no longer was a child, she was a young woman of a budding fifteen years. She lay fast asleep, her long, coarse hair flung over her shoulder so as not to lay on it. Her lips were painted black, as her attire: polyester flares, a shirt that laced up the sides with a glittering red rose printed on the chest, and a leather vest that once belonged to her dad.  
  
"She looks so angelic sleeping like that," the mother said.  
  
The driver grunted. "Too bad she won't stay that way."  
  
"It's just a phase," his wife explained. "She just wants to be different."  
  
"She shouldn't be lookin' ta be different," the man said biasedly. "Ya know she actually wants ta be a mutant?"  
  
"Logan!" his love chastised. "Her sister is a mutant. You know she looks up to Julee." She paused. "She might even know that you are, too."  
  
Logan looked at his knuckles with hatred and despise. "How?" he barks.  
  
"Back...oh...when Marnie was about five," she began. "Julee was 20 and Ami 17.  
  
"Julee had flown in to visit during spring break. You wanted to celebrate the reunion with dinner and a show.  
  
"We were just getting out of the restaurant and down a few blocks to the theater when the local Youth Friends of Humanity from Ami's school attacked, knowing Julee was a mutant. I grabbed Marnie in my arms as the gang surrounded us. They weren't expecting you to be a mutant when you unsheathed your claws. Had you not, we might have died. You honestly don't remember?"  
  
"I've tried ta ferget," Logan said.  
  
"Why?" inquired his Asian Rose.  
  
"I'm ashamed o' what I've done, Natalie," Logan admitted. "I know Marnie is a flamin' female duplicate o' me. I don't want her ta follow my footsteps. Why d'ya think I've told you an' the girls ta hush up?"  
  
"Logan, she's almost 16, for crying out loud! She has a right to at least know!" Natalie declared.  
  
Meanwhile, in another vehicle, a group of very drunk teenagers are cruising around.  
  
"Dude! Turn it up! This song kicks!" shouts the guy in the back seat with two girls on each side of him, swooning.  
  
The driver satisfies the request and everyone starts singing. "Wild Thing! You make my heart sing! You make everything, goovy! Wild Thing! I think I love you! But I wanna know..."  
  
"Oh, Tommy!" the blonde girl in the passenger seat says. "Like, making that fake ID to get beers was, like, such a good idea!"  
  
"Yeah!" agrees another blonde in the back seat. "I dunno when I've had so much fun!" She pulls the guy next to her as she hikes up her dress.  
  
"Me neither!" shouts the brunette on the other side of the guy. She grabs his head and pulls him over to her and purrs. "Wanna see a neat trick I can do with my tongue?"  
  
"Hey Tommy?" calls the blonde in the back seat. "Why're we goin' so slow?"  
  
"Just some old farts," the driver says. "Lemme run them off the road."  
  
Back in Logan's car, Natalie shrieks. Logan goes off-road to avoid a collision with a passing car.  
  
"Stupid kids!" Logan growls. "Need ta learn ta drive!"  
  
"Mom? Dad?" a faint voice comes from behind. "What's goin' on?"  
  
"It's alright, sweetie," her mother coos. "Just some crazy drivers. Go back to sleep."  
  
"How long have I been asleep?" Marnie asks.  
  
Logan looks at his watch. "Almost three hours."  
  
Then came Marnie's next question. "How much longer 'til we're home?"  
  
"About an hour." Logan adjusted his rear-view mirror to see his darling daughter. She saw his eyes from where she was sitting and smiled. In the mirror, she saw smile lines form around her daddy's eyes just before he flipped the mirror back to it's normal place.  
  
Suddenly, white headlights were flashing about as a car zig-zagged across the highway. "What are they doing?" Natalie asks bewildered. But before Logan could even react, it just as suddenly went dark.  
  
After a few minutes, Logan came-to. His wounds healing at almost the speed of light. His vision was blurred a bit. He sniffs the air. Blood. He smelled blood. Lots of it. Never a good sign. He tried to move but found himself trapped.   
  
When his vision eventually cleared, he looked beside him. Natalie was unconscience and suffering from severe bleeding. He looked to the back seat to see if Marnie was alright. What he found, instead, was her seat belt, torn in two. He looked before him. His windshield and the drunkards' were smashed-by Marnie's body. Logan's little girl had been launched from her seat and thrown into the windshields after they shattered. Her body was almost mutilated beyond recognition.  
  
Logan roared, terrified. "MARNIE!" He tries to free himself to get to his baby. Sirens were heard in the distance, as well as a SNIKT! and the sound of metal cutting metal.  



	2. Chapter Two

The sunlight peeked thru the curtains at daybreak. But that didn't matter. Everyone was awake and going strong-only because of the screams and hollers that echoed throughout the manor. Breakfast was being cooked in the kitchen. The maid set down a plate of waffles before a woman reading a newspaper. "More tea, luv?" the maid asked.  
  
"Yes, please," responded the woman as she turned the page.  
  
A winged man entered the dining room and sat down at the table with a handful of mail. "Got the mail, honey."  
  
"Anything exciting?" she asked as she folded down the paper revealing purple hair and red marking on her left eye.  
  
The man sifted thru the envelopes. "Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Invitation to the opening of a new museum..." He trailed off as he discarded it. Then he found something interesting. "A letter from a school regarding Emily's registration and application."  
  
The woman laid down the paper altogether. "What does it say?"  
  
The maid brought out more food from the kitchen when an unusually loud scream echoed thru the mansion. Startled, the maid jumped and the dishes went shattering to the floor. The butler went to assist her as she got down on her hands and knees and picked up the mess. "I wish Lady Emily wouldn' scream so loud when practisin' her routines," the maid whispered to the butler.  
  
"At least she's not playing that condemned 'music' of hers," the butler whispered.  
  
"Back to the letter, Warren," his wife said.  
  
He began reading: "'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Worthington'...Blah, blah, blah, blah...Okay, here we go. '...Because of Emily's violent record on previous campuses, we regret to inform you that she will not be accepted to attend Churchill Academy.'" Warren tossed the letter onto the table and sighed.  
  
"This is the fifth school," his wife said.  
  
"I know, Betsy," he said. "I know."  
  
"We're running out of options," Betsy said. "If I were to home-school her she'd never learn to use her words over her fists."  
  
The two adults lay in deep thought. Then an idea hit Warren. "There's one school that would let her in, unconditionally."  
  
Betsy looked her husband in the eye. "Who?" But before her husband could answer, she knew. "No."  
  
"Why not?" he asked. "I went there. We both worked there."  
  
"Aside from her purple hair, she's not a mutant," Betsy said. "I don't want a non-mutant going to a mutant school."  
  
"That's a bit biased."  
  
"Look, Warren," Betsy said forcefully. "I don't know if the students there would accept a human in their ranks."  
  
"They would if her parents were working there," Warren suggested.  
  
"We can't just go back!"  
  
"This is about Emily." Warren reached across the table to hold her hand. "So far, it's the best thing for her."  
  
Betsy sighed.  
  
Suddenly, loud music erupts. Various groans and frustrated sighs come from the house staff, but can't be heard over the music.  
  
"Besides," Warren added, "the help could use a break."  
  
Betsy leans in, unable to hear him. "WHAT?!?"  



	3. Chapter Three

Cold. It was summer but the night air was still cold. He hugged the tattered blanket close to him as he huddled against the brick wall.  
  
"Hey! Dumbass!" he heard a voice call. He opened his blue-green eyes and saw three homeless-gangster boys approach him. "Giv'us yo' blanket, baby boy!"  
  
The boy was scared. He was scrawny and weak, vulnerable to anything. He was no match for the hoodlums before him. His intelligence told him to give up the rag, but his instincts told him otherwise. He clutched the fabric closer to him.  
  
"I said, giv'us da blanket!" the leader said.  
  
"No," the boy said quietly.  
  
"Oh no?" The two other bullies picked the boy up by his shoulders and slammed him into the wall, hard. "Giv'ua da blanket, now!"  
  
"NO!" the boy roared. He couldn't believe he was brave enough to do that.  
  
"Oo-ooo," the leader teased. "Lil' Kyley has a temper."  
  
Kyle roared again, a more feral, animalistic roar. It had surprised the gang somewhat, but what happened next truly terrified the threesome.  
  
Kyle's hair, all over his body grew long and coarse. It had a fur coat likeness to it. His pupils became cat-like and iridescent. His fingernails transformed into claws-black and large. His canines became elongated and sharper.  
  
The bullies dropped Kyle. They started to back away slowly and then went running, screaming all the way. "Mutant! Mutant! He's a mutie! A stinkin' mutie!"  
  
Kyle groaned, disoriented. "What's happening to me?" he whispered to himself. When Kyle next looked up, he saw quite a crowd growing around him. Many of them with weapons of sticks, rocks, or torches, others with weapons they had illegally bought or stolen. Before he could react, a burning stick hit him in the face. It hurt, but only momentarily. The wound healed in seconds.  
  
Then the mob charged at him, chanting, "Kill the mutant! He's a mutant! Kill him! Die mutie! Kill the mutants before they kill us! Die, mutant! DIE!"  
  
Kyle gave chase. The mob threw whatever they could at him. He turned down an alley and found himself trapped between the mob and a high wall. Realizing he hadn't a chance, he turned to the mob, accepting the inevitable.  
  
Thunder suddenly clapped. The clear, starry sky had dark clouds infiltrate their beauty. The wind roared ferociously as the temperature dropped a dramatic thirty degrees in fifteen seconds. Snow began to rapidly fall. Both Kyle and the mob were confused. He held out a clawed hand. "Snow? In the middle of summer-time LA?"  
  
A lightening bolt suddenly strikes the small gap between Kyle and his pursuers. Two figures appear: a man with red eyes, shuffling cards. The other, an African-American woman with long, white hair and glowing, white eyes.  
  
The man spoke, "Gambit say, if you can' play nice, den don' play et all." He charged a card with kinetic energy and threw to the crowd. The mob disperses, frightened. Like a firecracker, it explodes in mid air.  
  
The two beings turned to Kyle, the woman's eyes now blue. Kyle backed up defensively against the wall, a low growl reverberating in his throat.  
  
The woman stepped lightly towards the scared and confused boy. "My name is Storm. This is my friend, Gambit." She points to her companion. He waves. "We shall not hurt you," Storm continued. "We only wish to help you." She pauses. "We, are much like you, Kyle. We are mutants, like you. We, too, were scared once, like you are now. We drifted in loneliness, as you have. But by the bright lady, no longer! We offer you a haven, Kyle." She stretches forth her hand. And, after much hesitation, Kyle respects his instincts, and takes the hand of the weather witch.  



	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
Her brown eyes darted everywhere: At faces of other people. At lockers and posters. At the piece of paper in her hands. At room numbers. After many frustrating minutes of trying to find her first period class, Marnie approached an African-American girl with blue streaked, white hair, a boy that looked normal and a girl with hair the color of fire.  
  
"Excuse me," she said, "but could ya please tell me where room A219 is?"  
  
"Go down to the end of this hallway," the white-haired girl pointed to her left.  
  
"Up the stairwell and straight across," the young man finished. "You can't miss it."  
  
"Thanks," Marnie said and headed off.  
  
"Who is teaching in that classroom?" the white-haired girl asked.  
  
"Ms. Frost," the other girl answered with much dislike. Then the period bell rang…  
  
"Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," the blonde teacher said. "This is World Lit and I am your instructor for this class, Ms. Frost." She grabbed a stack of paper from her desk and stood, revealing a very white, very short skirt. She passed the packets out to every student. "These are the rules and guidelines that are expected to be carried out without question."  
  
The classroom door then opened and revealed Marnie dressed in her usual gothic-esque style. She came in and sat down at the available seat in the front row, corner. Ms. Frost continued, making a jabbing remark at Marnie. "Take for example, the rule about absences and tardiness." She handed Marnie a copy of the guidelines. " ' Tardy students must write a three-page essay explaining their reason. If the essay is not turned in the next day, the requirement is increased to five-pages. Each day the assignment is not turned in, the requirements will increase by odd integers.'"  
  
Snickers are heard throughout the classroom, directed to Marnie. Ms. Frost seemed to smile evilly. Marnie felt a surge of anger sweep over her body. She did not act on those feelings. Her hands, though, did begin to itch and as a result and she rubbed them to relieve them.  
  
A boy sitting behind Marnie leaned over to his buds sitting around him. He spoke loud enough for Marnie to hear him. "Oo-ooo! Goth-girl's in trouble already. And on the first day!" He and his friends chuckled.  
  
Marnie turned slightly towards them. "You will be, too, if ya don't shut yer flamin' hole up!"  
  
"Silence!" Ms. Frost yelled. "Or perhaps, maybe 'Miss Gothic' would like to be a living example of another rule?" She flashed her evil grin again.  
  
"The name's Fox, lady," Marnie said. "Marnie. Fox."  
  
"And I'm Bond. James. Bond," the boy behind Marnie said. The class laughed. Marnie began to rub her knuckles harder.  
  
Recognition and fear glimmered in Ms. Frost's eyes for a second, then disappeared. "Enough! No more joking, young man, or Fox' prediction will come true." Ms. Frost then continued with her rule sheet. "For your homework tonight…" Groans erupt from the class. "…you will hand write these rules three times, word for word." More sighs and groans erupt. Ms. Frost walks over to the overhead projector, puts a transparency on and flips it on. "But for now, let's go over them." She leans over the projector to reveal much, too much, cleavage.  
  
What have I gotten inta? Marnie thought. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
She pulled a dollar from her pocket and fed it into the vending machine. She punched in the code for a ham sandwich. Nothing. She fed in another dollar and repeated the process. Still, nothing. She grew frustrated.  
  
"Come on! Yo' fricking piece o' machinery! Gimme my lunch yo' piece o' shit!" The British girl started punching and kicking the contraption.  
  
"Need some help?"  
  
The girl turned around to see a tall boy with dish-water blonde hair. "No," she said stubbornly. "I don't need any o' yo' help." The girl began to storm off.  
  
The blonde remained and forcefully tapped the machine on it's side. The girl turned around to see what the fool was trying. He repeated his method and out came the two sandwiches she had paid for. The boy approached the dumbfounded girl again, offering her the sandwiches. "Ya just hafta find the sweet-spot," he said.  
  
The girl took one of the sandwiches. She felt so embarrassed! "Yo' can have th' othe' one." She motioned to the second sandwich.  
  
"Thanks," the blonde said. He held out his hand. "I'm Kyle."  
  
The girl smiled. No one was ever nice to her after she bit their head off, but Kyle was. This amused her. She took his hand and smiled. "Emily. Emily Wo'thington. What do yo' say we find a table and see if we can attract any othe' losers?"  
  
Kyle raised one brow. "Losers?"  
  
The lunch tables were completely full. That can be accounted for by this being the first day of school. Nevertheless, there still weren't many seats available. Kyle spotted a girl he recognized, sitting alone. He lead Emily to her. Kyle sat down across from the girl and Emily next to him. "Whaddya think yer doin'?" the girl asked.  
  
"These two seats taken?" Kyle asked.  
  
"A lil' late fer askin', pal," the girl sneered.  
  
Kyle put out his hand to the girl with the long, black ponytail. "My name's Kyle. This is my new friend, Emily."  
  
"Hullo," Emily chirped.  
  
The girl stared at Kyle's hand for a few seconds then glared at him. "First name's Marnie. Last name's Fox. I prefer the latter. I also prefer ta be left alone."  
  
After Marnie left Kyle's hand hanging, he brought it back in to himself. "You're in Ms. Frost's class, huh? The one that she bitched about?"  
  
"Maybe," Marnie said as she took a bite of her pizza.  
  
Emily found herself amused again, but with Marnie. She reminded her of herself. She had never seen another person with an attitude and hatred for socialization.  
  
Kyle was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. Usually his charm and charisma did all the talking for him and got people to open up. Marnie was resistant. He'd never met anyone like her.  
  
"So," Emily attempted to make conversation, "what brought yo' t'Mutie High?"  
  
Marnie chewed a bite and swallowed. "My ol' man."  
  
"Really?" Emily said. "Mine, too. And my mothe'. They work he'e.  
  
"Small world," Marnie said as she took another bite.  
  
"Black looks good on ya," Kyle said out of the blue.  
  
Marnie looked up at him. "Ya tryin' ta hit on me er somethin'?"  
  
"No, no," Kyle said quickly. "What I meant was not everyone can get the goth thing to work for them. You can."  
  
"Thanks," Marnie said shortly and took another bite of her lunch.  
  
After getting tired of hearing chewing, Kyle asked, "So why'd your dad want ya to come here?"  
  
Marnie swallowed. "He wanted to."  
  
"And yo' mothe' approved o' that?" Emily asked.  
  
"My mother's dead." Marnie wadded up her paper bag and launched it into the trash can a few feet away.  
  
"So's mine," Kyle said.  
  
Marnie looked at him, her interest finally captured. "Yeah?"  
  
"Yeah," Kyle acknowledged. "I don't know much about her. Just that she died giving birth to me. Or so my ex-social agent told me."  
  
Marnie opened up. "My ma died justa few weeks ago. Car crash. Me an' my pa survived cuz o' our mutation: a rapid healin' factor."  
  
"I'm so sorry," Emily said. "Fo' th' both o' yo'." Suddenly Emily felt very lucky. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
"Cleo? What are you doing?"  
  
An African-American girl stood on her tip-toes scanning the cafeteria. "I am looking for Emily and the boy my mother rescued earlier."  
  
"The new X-Prodigy with the purple hair and the kid that's a werecat?" asked a boy with brown hair.  
  
"Correct, Marx, my love," Cleo answered.  
  
"Cleo," Marx said, "you might want to be careful. Your food's about to slip off your-" At the last word of Marx' warning, Cleo's food slips off her tray.  
  
The food doesn't hit the floor. Instead, it levitates and floats back up onto the tray. "I've got it," a girl with hair the color of bright flames announces.  
  
"Nice save, sis," Marx complements.  
  
"Thank you, Rachel," Cleo obliges.  
  
Two boys approach the threesome. One, looking very similar to Cleo, with white hair and a single blue streak running thru it. The other appeared somewhat normal, with the exception of his eyes. They were green with black sclera.  
  
"Bonjour, mes amis," the latter greeted. "What's up wit' Cleo?"  
  
"She's on a mission," Rachel said.  
  
"When is she not?" the cajun asked.  
  
"She's looking for Emily and the werecat boy," Marx informed the others.  
  
"Uh-oh," the cajun said.  
  
"What?" the others asked in unison.  
  
"I t'ink your girlfriend, Marx, be lookin' for a new date, non?"  
  
"Whatever, Trois," Marx said.  
  
The other boy chuckled. "You know how my dear twin sister can be: always friendly."  
  
Trois pokes some more fun at Marx. "I bet Cleo get real friendly wit' you et de movies, non?"  
  
"Don't you dare say that about my girlfriend!" Marx shouted angrily.  
  
"I did a psi-scan," Rachel said. "And I've found them, along with a girl, Marnie. She's a gothic extremist." She points in a direction. Cleo takes off and the others follow in pursuit, except Trois.  
  
"I was only kidding, mon ami!" Trois called after them. "Hey! Wait up!"  
  
The group makes their way to the table Emily, Kyle and Marnie are sitting at. Without asking, they all sit down.  
  
"Goll!" Marnie exclaimed. "Don't anyone ask ta sit next ta strangers anymore?!?"  
  
"Hello Emily," Cleo says. "We've been looking for you."  
  
"'Ave yo', indeed?" Emily asks sarcastically.  
  
Kyle leans into Emily's ear and whispered. "Were these the losers ya wanted to attract?"  
  
"Not in th' least," Emily replies.  
  
"What the hell d'ya think yer doin?" Marnie asks the strangers.  
  
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," Cleo said. "I am Cleo McCoy."  
  
"Tony McCoy, Cleo's fraternal twin brother. Tis a pleasure."  
  
"Marx Summers," he looks at Kyle, "Cleo's boyfriend."  
  
"De name is Trois LeBeau. Remember it."  
  
"Rachel Summers."  
  
"I'm Kyle," he said pleasantly.  
  
"Yes," Tony said. "Our mother and Trois' father rescued you just a few nights ago."  
  
"Your parents are he X-Men?" Kyle asked.  
  
"All of us have X-Men parents," Rachel said.  
  
"So yer like the X-Prodigy Welcome Wagon Committee?" Marnie asked disrespectfully.  
  
"I've never heard it put like that," Tony said, "but I can see where you're coming from."  
  
Realizing Marnie never introduced herself, Kyle does in her stead. "This is Fox, everyone." Salutations ring out thru the group.  
  
"Hey," Marnie grunted.  
  
"So how do you like it here?" Marx asked.  
  
"It's better than the LA Gang War Zone alleys," Kyle said. They all laughed except Marnie and Emily.  
  
"And you, Emily?" Cleo asks.  
  
"It's like any othe' school I've been to," she replies. "Mo'e mutants."  
  
"That's why this place is called Mutant High," Rachel said.  
  
Trois turns to Marnie. "An' what 'bout you, petite? How you like it here?"  
  
"Hate it," she said plainly. The others were taken back a bit.  
  
"Is there anything we can do to make you feel more at home?" Marx asked.  
  
"Yeah," Marnie says. "Take me home."  
  
"You look familiar," Rachel said. "Have you ever been here before?"  
  
"My sister lives up here," Marnie said. "I've visited."  
  
"Pray tell, who your sister is," Cleo said. "We may know her."  
  
"Cleo know everybody," Trois mumbled.  
  
"Her name's Julee Fox," Marnie told them. "She's a secretary here."  
  
"Your darling sister is our lovable Jubilation Lee?" Tony asked.  
  
"Yeah. So?"  
  
"If you're Julee's sister, that means your father is the elusive Wolverine!" Marx spat excitedly.  
  
"Huh?" Marnie asked.  
  
"The Wolverine," Marx said. "He was an X-Man that worked alongside our parents. He could heal himself in an instant, virtually unkillable. His bones were laced with adamantium-the strongest metal in the known universe. He had six claws, three extending from the backs of each hand. Nobody but Julee has ever seen him again."  
  
"Hold it, bub," Marnie said. "My dad ain't got no metal bones er claws. I'd think I'd know 'bout that."  
  
"But do your papa have a healin' factor, mon shugah?" Trois asked.  
  
Marnie hesitated. She felt her temper rising and her hands itching. She rubbed them unconsciencly. "Yeah. So do I."  
  
"Den mebbe your papa not tell you, yet," Trois suggested.  
  
Marnie leapt up, furious. "You callin' my pa a liar, gumbo?"  
  
"Non, non, shugah, I jus sayin'-"  
  
"Yeah! Yer just sayin'!" Marnie yelled at him. "Maybe ya should keep them lips o' yers zipped, 'shugah'." Her hands began to itch more. She picks up her pack. "I'm outta here."  
  
The group sat in silence as they watched the short girl walk away. They were shocked and appalled at her behavior, except for Emily, who liked the girl's style.  
  
Marx spoke up after a moment. "Well I, for one, don't like her." 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
It had been a long day for Marnie. Between jokers and bullies, homework and slutty teachers, arrogant students and harassment, she wished she had died in that car accident with her mom, or not had it happen at all. Her mother's death was the reason she and her father had moved out to New York. He couldn't raise Marnie all by himself, so they moved in with Julee so she could help out. The headmaster of the school had even been generous to give Logan a job as gym supervisor. Generous to help destroy her life.  
  
She lay lifelessly on the couch. Her head propped up by one arm, the other holding the remote control for the TV, flipping thru different channels, trying to find something worth watching.  
  
".Today in the news, mutant terrorist, Magneto, holds a US naval ship and it's crew at bay."  
  
".He's a pretender-he can do or become anything he wants to be."  
  
"Scooby-Dooby-Doooooooo!"  
  
".the wild gazelle never heard the pack of lionesses stalking them."  
  
"I choose you, Pikachu!"  
  
".Lucy! You didn't!"  
  
".T minus 10.9.8.7."  
  
"M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!"  
  
"Hey anybody! I'm home!"  
  
The last comment did not come from the TV. It came from the front door. The sound of jingling keys and the door shutting accompanies the shout, to which Marnie replies dully, "Hey Jules."  
  
Julee puts her bag away and finds Marnie, still laying lifelessly on the couch. She pulls her knees into her to allow her feet to move so Julee has a place to sit. She still flips thru the various channels. "Hey Marns," Julee said. "Dad home yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How was school?"  
  
"Awful."  
  
"Was it as bad as ya thought it was gonna be?"  
  
"Worse."  
  
"Why?" Julee asked, concerned. "What happened?"  
  
"I'm in a new school, with new people, no friends an'." Marnie trailed off.  
  
"And what?"  
  
Marnie hesitates. "An' without Mom ta tell me everythin's gonna be alright."  
  
The siblings sit in a moment of silence, trying to hold back their tears over their deceased mother. Julee broke the mold first. "Anything else happen?"  
  
"Some kids kept tellin' me that dad was some flamin' super hero an' had claws and stuff," Marnie said a bit too casually. "I told 'em otherwise an' they called me a liar."  
  
The doorbell rings. Julee rises to answer it. She opens the door and sees a blonde boy standing before her. "May I help you?"  
  
"Uh.Yeah," he said. "Does a Marnie Fox live here?"  
  
"May I ask your name?" Julee asked in her secretarial voice.  
  
"Sure."  
  
Julee looks at the kid sideways. "Your name is 'Sure'?"  
  
"No," the boy responded. "You asked if you could ask my name. I said ya could ask."  
  
Julee looks at the kid like he's from outer space. Then it hits her. "Oh! I get it! 'May I ask your name?' Ha! I'll hafta use that one! So what *is* your name?"  
  
The boy smiles. "Kyle."  
  
"Okay," Julee says. "One moment please." Julee turns her head back in the direction of the TV room. "Marnie! There's a Kyle here for ya!"  
  
"Comin'!" Marnie calls from her place on the couch. She gets up and walks to the front door. Julee leaves, all the while giggling over "May I ask your name?" "Hey," Marnie says nonchalantly.  
  
"Hey," Kyle mirrors back.  
  
"Whaddya want?"  
  
Kyle sighs. "I'm bored. I have no homework and no friends and nothing to do and." He sees Marnie just nodding and smiling away. Kyle grows embarrassed. "And I probably sound really desperate right now."  
  
Marnie continues to nod and smile. "Sure do, pal!"  
  
"I guess I'll go, then," Kyle says as he begins to walk off.  
  
"Wanna hang?" Marnie says clear out of the blue.  
  
Kyle turns around, his green-blue eyes lit up. "Read my mind!"  
  
Marnie shouts into the suite, "Hey Jules!"  
  
A muffled, "Yeah?" comes from the TV room.  
  
"I'm gonna go hang with Kyle," Marnie tells her sister. "Tell Dad I'll be back by nine!"  
  
"Kay! Have fun!" the muffled voice says. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
"He is a beautiful specimen." The woman circled the holographic projection. "He should serve you well."  
  
"Yes.He couldn't be more perfect if I designed him myself. What I calculated would take nature thousands of years to evolve to has occurred in mere decades," a sinister, male voice explained.  
  
"Have you a plan for accumulating this lad?" the woman asked as she gently swept her hand along the various control panels found in the chamber.  
  
"When don't I?" the man adorned in metal asked with sarcasm. He raised a remote control in his hand and the holographic image changed to a 3-D image of a large series of residential buildings crammed together. "The subject will be in school. We'll attack the daycare center, here." He hit a button and the daycare area was highlighted. "This should disrupt classes and divert the X-Men's attention. They'll be expecting us to further devastate that area. Once that happens, my men will capture the boy and bring him back to me."  
  
"And my forces shall do the same, but with the girl," the woman said. "They'll bring her back here where they can transfer her intergalactic powers to me."  
  
"And then," the man smiled wickedly, his carnivorous teeth revealing, "we shall rewrite time and space itself." He chuckled maniacally.  
  
".And because of Mark Antony's speech the people turned themselves against the conspirators. Would anybody like to recite that speech?" Ms. Frost asked her students.  
  
Trois leaned over to Marx. "I wish dis would get a little more excitin', y'know?" Suddenly a gargantuan explosion sounded.  
  
"I think it just did," Marx said.  
  
"What you t'ink it be, mon amie?" Trois asked.  
  
"Well it certainly isn't Dr. McCoy putting on a demo in chem class."  
  
Attention all students! Xavier's voice echoed in everybody's minds. There has been an attack made on the daycare center. Please evacuate yourselves to the bomb shelters beneath the school! My X-Men! Report to the location at once!  
  
"Oh non!" Trois shouted. "My sister! She be in dere! I gotta get to her!"  
  
Marx grabbed Trois' arm. "No! Your parents will take care of her. Don't add to the problem. Let's go!"  
  
"You t'ink she be well?"  
  
"I'm sure of it, let's go!"  
  
The students make their way, calmly to the bomb shelters. Everything was going smoothly, until the boys bumped into Rachel, who was surprisingly going the opposite direction. "Ray! What's wrong? Where are you going?" her brother asks.  
  
"Something's wrong," she says. "I don't know what it is exactly, but something tells me I need to go to Mom and Dad."  
  
"They're back at the daycare center."  
  
"I know where they are, I just need to get to them."  
  
"Why?" Marx asks.  
  
"I don't know," Rachel said. She proceeded up the stairs and then turned back at Marx and Trois, who were staring at her. "Are you coming or not?" she asked.  
  
The boys exchanged glances. They raced to catch up with Rachel.  
  
"How bad is it, or do you know?" her younger brother asked.  
  
"It's bad," she replied. "I don't think the daycare center is the real target."  
  
"Oh dis is not good!" Trois muttered.  
  
"That's why I need to get to Mom."  
  
"Can't you use your telepathy?" Marx asks.  
  
She glances back at him. "Can't you?"  
  
Marx tried to contact his parents. "I can't."  
  
"Oh non! Dis is so not good!"  
  
"That's why I think it's worse than thought," Rachel explained.  
  
They reached the level of the mansion the daycare center was on. "I'll fly ahead and tell them." Marx took off before Rachel could grab him.  
  
"Marx! NO!" Too late. She turned to Trois. "I have a really bad feeling about this."  
  
"An' dat is never good." Trois looked around. The halls were completely empty. "Now what?"  
  
"I don't know," Rachel said. Then her telepathy bliped momentarily and picked up something. "RUN!" she cried. She lifted up Trois with her telekinesis to lift him and herself to safety, but then a sonic blast erupts and ends Rachel's concentration. They fall to the floor. Rachel gets up to retaliate against her attackers. A bomb of knockout gas is thrown to her feet and she passes out, along with Trois.  
  
Marx reached the daycare center. The X-Men were finishing up their battle as the last of the attackers abandoned ship. "Mom! Dad!"  
  
Phoenix and Cyclops turn their attention to their son. "Marx! What are you doing here?" his father asked.  
  
"There's a problem," he said. "Rachel's getting premonitions that the daycare isn't the real target."  
  
"Why didn't you tell us with your telepathy?" Phoenix asked.  
  
"It wasn't working," he replied. "And neither did Rachel's." Phoenix and Cyclops exchanged glances.  
  
The Beast happens to overhear this conversation and enters it. "What do you mean that yours and your sister's powers were stunned momentarily?"  
  
"Not our powers," Marx explained, "just our psi-abilities."  
  
Phoenix tries concentrating. She lowers her head and after a few seconds, "He's right. My psi-powers are blocked as well."  
  
"Psylocke!" Cyclops calls. "Are your psi-powers still intact?"  
  
She thinks for a minute. "Umm.Yeah. Aren't they supposed to be?"  
  
"That is odd," Storm comments. "I wonder if the professor sensed anything."  
  
Psylocke heard her cue and tried contacting Xavier. "Guys? He's not responding."  
  
A loud scream echoed all thru the estate. The X-Men turn to the source and find Rogue in horrid shock while Gambit is charging debris to get rid of it. "Rogue! What's wrong?" Angel asks.  
  
Rogue breaks down into tears. The X-Men gather to see what the problem was. And there she was. Underneath the rubble Gambit was blasting away was their six year-old daughter's body. 


End file.
